Semester schedule

When designing the semester schedule:

Start with learning outcomes for the unit of study(UoS), and build assessment and content around these. This will help you to focus on the most important aspects of learning that must be addressed.

Be flexible as pragmatics often intervene, for example needing to move content around to suit available lecturers which may then impact on assessment.

Think about the timing of assessment tasks. Schedule feedback and further assessment opportunities to demonstrate improvement. See also Designing assessment tasks.

Think about content. (a) What texts and other reading materials are required? (b) Does your discipline area lend itself to lectures rather than workshops? (c) What material is best presented didactically? (d) Do you have the staff to deliver the lectures you’d like given, or will you need to compromise? (e) Do you have enough staff (and the budget) to run a workshop every week? (f) Do you want to provide lectures and tutorials/workshops/ lab classes every week? (g) How much self-directed learning do you want to build into your unit of study? (h) Consider the flow of learning content so that students build on what they learnt in the previous class.

Synchronise your lectures and tutorials so that there is enough time for both the student and you to be prepared. This way information can be immediately applied in tutorials.